Christ the King
The King is coming! The King is coming here! No those aren’t words from
a fairy tale—they are words actually spoken. Back in 1976 I was doing my
seminary fieldwork at an old Swedish church on the North Side of Chicago—Ebenezer
Lutheran. That same year the King of Sweden, Gustav or rather Karl Gustav was
to visit the United States—Chicago—Ebenezer Lutheran church.
The King is coming—so said the lady polishing the pews.
But that wasn’t all—choir members were added to the choir, the sidewalk
in front of the church was fixed; the city even planted saplings in the parkway
along Foster Avenue. The King was coming.
And so the fateful day arrived. Everyone had tickets to the
service and we all had to be in and seated before his limo pulled up to the
entrance—the anticipation, the excitement. Finally the doors opened—six
men in gray suits came through the door, they walked to the front row and sat
down. The king was here. The king was here—but which one was he? How do
you recognize a King!
For David in his farewell address of our first lesson the king
“is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”
For the Psalmist—an appropriate living place ranks high—For
John in the vision of revelations the throne and the power of judgment get our
attention.
Yet for all of them—what makes a King a King are those
who serve and give authority to the King. It not a throne or trumpets or apparel—its
not appearances that make a king a king. Sometimes it’s even hard after
all the expectation and all the build up to recognize the king. Certainly it
was for the people in Jesus time. Jesus didn’t look like a king, didn’t
act like a king, didn’t make demands like a king.
Pilate’s dilemma was—Is this the King of the Jews?
Where were those who serve this king? Who would Pilate offend if he ruled against
this man?
Jesus makes it easy on him. If I were a king in this world
my followers would be fighting for me?
Soren Kierkagaard writes a parable; “ A king once fell
in love with a common girl whom he encountered and wanted to marry her. This,
of course, was impossible. The king thought and thought about how he could win
the love of this woman. If he presented himself to her as king and said he loved
her he was afraid she would love him out of a sense of obligation. On the other
hand, to hide his true identity and trick her into loving him would be untrue
and she would never be able to trust him. The only solution was for the king
to give up his throne, put on common clothes and win her love. Which he did.
Sometimes it’s hard to recognize a king even when he’s
right there in your midst. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize a King’s
subjects (followers) even when the followers are right there in your midst.
So the question for today is—Do you know the players without a scorecard—Can
you actually see Christ’s kingdom entering into our lives here and now?
And the answer is—only if you look with the right eyes.
A week or so ago we got an e-mail from Gil Furst, the head of Lutheran Disaster
Response. He writes, "As I write this report fires in Southern California
have destroyed at least 1500 homes and caused 17 deaths. More than 500,000 acres
have burned—about 780 square miles. As I write this report, Lutheran Disaster
Response is responding. Andrea Muir serves as the LDR-Scal disaster response
coordinator. Even she had to be evacuated when flames appeared across the street
from her home. It may take several days to bring the fires under control."
The Kingdom is at work on the fire line with those individuals
who fight the fires. It is at work with those who work in the evacuation shelters.
It is at work with those who will participate in the clean up after, including
those counselors who will deal, for the long term, with the psychological devastation
that accompanies such a disaster. The kingdom works through individuals, non
profit agencies, government agencies and you.
Gil continues: "Many of you are asking how you can help.
We are just beginning to know the needs of this disaster. You can help the church
in this response: Through your prayers. The prayers of God’s people are
far more powerful than these roaring fires. Your prayers will sustain those
who do not know if they will be returning to intact homes or piles of ashes,
destroyed neighborhoods, lost treasured items. And they will sustain firefighters
and care providers, those who are responding providing a helping hand and words
of faith and encouragement."
The kingdom is in action to our contributions to world hunger.
Oh they may not seem like much in the context of such a huge problem. But imagine
that our gifts might mean inoculations for 50 children who because of malnutrition
or poor water supplies would suffer terribly from ordinary diseases.
The Kingdom is in action right here in our midst as we reach
out to support, encourage and befriend one another.
The kingdom is in action. Perhaps the old hymn says it best; “Not through
swords loud clashing nor roll of stirring drum, through acts of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes!"
Can you recognize it? Can you see the Kingdom?
Amen.